Harpoon Catamount Maple Wheat

First Brewed: 2009
Brewery Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States and Windsor, Vermont, United States
ABV: 6.8%

History & Availability: The Catamount Maple Wheat is the current beer in Harpoon's 100 Barrel series, which consists of beers that are brewed in smaller quantities (namely, 100 barrels) and in a single batch, so are available only for a limited time. This particular beer was first introduced as the 26th in the series in 2009, but was popular enough that Harpoon decided to feature it again as the 35th in the series. The "maple" in the name is not only a woodsy evocation; it was actually brewed with real maple syrup to give it that authentic northern-New-Englandy taste. The beer was bottled on Jan. 21, and these beers tend to run for about two months, so if you want to give it a try you may want to start looking around sooner rather than later. It's only $6 a bottle, which is obviously more expensive than most beers you'll buy in packs, but is one of the cheapest 22oz-ers I've seen around.

Appearance: It looks like maple syrup, so they at least got that down. Maybe a bit redder than the average syrup. Carbonation is slight, but despite this the beer is a little hazy. Head pours low and diminishes quickly to just a trace on the top of the mug without any agitation. With such low carbonation there probably won't be much retention to speak of through the drink.

Smell: Rather than maple, I'm instead getting an aroma that reminds me of soft fruits, like kiwi or mango. I'm actually a little disappointed because the smell of real maple syrup sends me into a wild drool-fest where I start craving corn pancakes and vanilla ice cream slathered in the stuff. Alas, no such luck with the scent of this beer. On the plus side, when they advertised "lightly-hopped" they seem to be taking it to heart, since I can sense almost no bitter aroma from this beer at first glance.

Taste: I taste the wheat, for sure. I don't taste the catamount (although not having a cougar taste is probably a good thing), and sadly I don't really taste the maple. The beer is certainly sweet, don't get me wrong, and the hops have a minimal impact on the taste as advertised, but when I'm really hoping for a truly maple-flavored beer it's disappointing to find that it's just a sweeter-than-average ale.

Mouthfeel: Oddly balanced despite having no hop bitterness to speak of. As mentioned, carbonation is fairly low, but not low enough so that it's flat. Average finish and little aftertaste make this a pretty neutral-feeling beer.

Drinkability: Good. The low carbonation definitely helps out in keeping this beer light in the stomach. And despite my lamentations about the lack of maple, the taste is really quite pleasant, it doesn't strain on you at all.

Overall verdict: B, it really is a pretty good beer, I'm just horribly disappointed by the broken promise of maple syrup.